23 March 2004

Something to ponder for those wondering why Spain capitulated to fear, and why our nation lacks the steely resolve of Israel in facing down terror threats.

In the Madrid bombings, one per every 200,000 Spaniards were killed.

In the 9/11 attacks, one per every 100,000 Americans were killed.

In the last 3 1/2 years of terrorist attacks on Israel, one per every 6800 Israelis have been killed.

Does that make it any clearer? It does to me, anyway. These numbers are approximations, by the way, but pretty close to accurate. Consider this:

Perhaps in order to come to the point where it is truly "kill or be killed" in our approach to terrorism, what if we had to lose a similar percentage of our population as Israel has suffered. We would lose somewhere around 43,000 Americans. Fourteen September 11th attacks. I hope to God we will not require such tragedy to wake us up to reality!